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GETTYSBURG 

Lincoln s Address 

ana rj 

Our Educational Institutions 




Lincoln in 1860 

" Wheresoever throughout the civilized world the accounts of 

this great warfare are read, and down to the latest period of recorded 

time, in the glorious annals of our common country, there will be 

no brighter page than that which relates the Battles of Gettysburg." 

Hon. Edward Everett, November 19, 1863 



Published by The Board of Education of tne General 
Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church m the 
United States, Rev. Frederick G. Gotwald, General 
Secretary, York, Pern a, 1907. 







Copyright, 1907, 

The Board of Education of the General Synod 

of the Evangelical Lutheran Church 

in the United States. 



THE BATTLE. 




" With copious slaughter all the field was red 
And heaped with growing mountains of the dead." 

ENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE was form- 
ally organized July 4, 1832. Exactly 
thirty-one years later Lee hurried his 
defeated forces away from Gettysburg 
to temporary safety south of the Poto- 
mac. 

Undoubtedly this little college town 
will always be famous as one of the great world battle- 
fields — the place where was fought the decisive battle of 
the Civil War. 

It will ever be both the destination 
of many American youths seeking the 
culture of the College and Seminary 
halls and also the goal of patriotic pil- 
grims reverently visiting the scenes 
made sacred by those who gave their 
life-blood for their country. 

The battle itself was most desper- 
ate. For three days, Wednesdav, 
Thursday and Friday, July 1st, 2d and 
3d, 1863, the great Army of the Poto- 
mac (consisting of seven army corps, 
together with artillery and cavalry, 
95,000 effective men), under General 
Meade, withstood and finally routed 
the proud Army of Northern Virginia 
(75,000 ettective men) under General 
Lee. The Union army had 370 can- 
nons ; the Confederate army had 270 
about equal, in proportion to the strength of the two 
armies, viz : — Federal, 3,072 killed, 14,497 wounded and 




Maj-Gen. George Gordon Meade, 
of Pennsylvania. 

Arriving at i A. M., July 2nd, 
he was in command of the 
Union forces during the Battle. 
Generals Reynolds, Howard and 
Hancock commanded success- 
ively until Meade's arrival. Of 
General Meade's services Gen- 
eral Grant wrote in 1864: " I 
defy any man to name a com- 
mander who would do more 
than Meade has done, with the 
same chances." 



The losses were 



5,434 missing; total, 23,003; Confederate, 2,592 killed, 
12,709 wounded, and 5,1.50 missing; total, 20,451. The 
saying of the Duke of Wellington that next to a defeat 
the saddest thing was a victory was verified in this awful 
conflict and slaughter. 

Of special interest to Lutherans is the part played by 
her institutions and churches at Gettysburg on this his- 
toric occasion. The Seminary cupola was used for ob- 
servations by Union Generals Reynolds and Buford 
early on the first day. Thereafter it was the chief 




Theological Seminary Building Just After the Battle. 

This rare picture shows the effects of the cannon shots in the roof of the 
cupola, the front gable and the south foundation wall. The fences are parti- 
ally removed and destroyed to allow greater facility in moving troops and in 
conveying the wounded to the hospital within the building. 



signal station and observatory for the Confederates. 
For several months after the battle the Seminary was 
occupied by the Government for a hospital, the wounded 
of both armies being treated with equal consideration. 
The Seminary Trustees resolved, " that from motives of 



patriotism and gratitude to God for the glorious victory 
vouchsafed to our arms at Gettysburg, no compensation 
should be solicited from the Government for damages sus- 
tained to the buildings, but will look to the free-will offer- 
ings of the churches for the means necessary to repair the 
same." Four thousand two hundred and ten dollars 
were raised for this purpose. However, in August, 1864, 
$660.50 were received from the Government for the use 
of the building as a hospital. The home of Dr. Schmucker, 
south of the Seminary, was occupied by Confederates 
during the three days of the battle. " His house was 
pierced by thirteen cannon balls. His fine library was 
shamefully abused and some of his furniture plundered," 
presumably because of his well-known anti-slavery views. 
The cupola of the College was also first used by the 
Union officers and then by Confederates as a station for 
observations and signals. At 8.30 in the morning of July 
1 st one of General Howard's signal officers was in the 
College cupola making observations, when his attention 
was specially directed to Cemetery Hill, south of Gettys- 
burg, by one of the officers of the College (Prof. M. Jacobs), 
as being of the highest strategic importance and com- 
manding the whole country around for many miles. 
Doubtless General Howard satisfied himself of its pre-em- 
inent advantages as a position of offense and defense and 
siezed and held it with a division of the Eleventh Corps 
under General Steinwehr. To this action may be attrib- 
uted, in large measure, the favorable results of the battles 
of the two next days. Again, at a later stage, General 
Lee, from the same College cupola, had reconnoitred the 
Federal position and came to the conclusion that the left 
centre was the weakest part of their lines. He thereupon 
determined to assail this point, held by General Hancock. 
Then was witnessed a desperate effort to accomplish its 
capture. The historic charge of Pickett's Division with 
its disastrous result is well-known. Thus the strength 
of the Union position and the disaster of the Confederate 
attack were both determined upon from data obtained 
from observations made in the College cupola. 

During the withdrawal of the First (Doubleday) and 



Eleventh Corps (Schurz)* through the town, on the after- 
noon of the first day, to Cemetery Hill, there was hard 
fighting in the College grounds. The College building 
was filled with the wounded — probably not less than 500. 
Many were placed in the library and halls ; " many a 
blood-soaked volume in the library still reminding us of 
the use to which it was put." For four weeks the build- 
ing was thus used by the Government, for which an in- 
demnity of $625 was, later, granted. No Commencement 
exercises were held, but by Septem- 
ber 24th all was thoroughly cleansed, 
repaired and made ready for the fall 
session. 

The two Lutheran churches of the 
place were also used as hospitals by 
the Government. Of those who 
ministered in these, and other hos- 
pitals, Edward Everett said later : 
" The brethren and sisters of Chris- 
tian benevolence, ministers of com- 
passion, angels of pity, hastened to 
the field and hospital to moisten the 
parched tongue, to bind the ghastly 
wounds, to soothe the parting agon- 
ies alike of friend and foe and to 
catch the last whispered messages of love from dying 
lips." 

Mention may also be made of the patriotism of the 
students of both College and Seminary. When the news 




Christ Lutheran Church 

Since 1836 the Church of both Sem- 
inary and College Faculties and 
Students. Used as a hospital dur- 
ing entire battle and afterwards. 
On the church steps Chaplain How- 
ell, of the 90th Pa. Vols., was 
killed by a stray bullet July ist, 
just after he had ministered to 
some wounded members of his regi- 
ment in the hospital. 



* This Corps was composed largely of Germans, and, presumably, of Luth- 
erans. Among their officers were Generals Schurz, Steinwehr and Schimmel- 
pfennig; Colonels Von Gilsa, Finsiedel, Bourry, Von Amsberg, Salomon, 
Dobke, Von Hartung, Von Mitzel, Krzyzanowski, Otto, L,ockman, Mahler and 
Boebel; Majors Kovacs, Frueauff and Ledig; and Captains Foerster, Schleiter, 
Both, Krauseneck, Koenig, Fuchs, Wiedrich, Heckman and Dilger. Proving 
the valorous conduct of these troops a local historian relates how that, on the 
evening of July 2d, " the Confederates returned to our street at 10 o'clock and 
prepared their supper; and soon we began to hope that all was not lost. Some 
of them expressed their most earnest indignation at the foreigners — the Dutch- 
men — for having shot down so many of their men. This led us to believe that 
the Eleventh Corps (Schurz) — of whom many were foreign Germans, and 
whom on the previous evening, they tauntingly told us they had met at Chan- 
cellorsville — had done their duty, and had nobly redeemed their character. We 
afterwards found the explanation of this indignation when we learned what had 
taken place that evening on the eastern flank of Cemetery Hill." 



of Lee's invasion induced Governor Curtin to call for 
50,000 troops they responded by organizing a company of 
about sixty, or a majority of the college students, together 
with four from the Seminary and offered their services to 
the Governor. 

They constituted Co. A, 26th Reg., P. V. M., and had as 
Captain, Frederick Klinefelter, a seminarian. They were 
the first company mustered in under the Governor's call, 
June 17, 1863, and their regiment had a severe skirmish 
with the first body of Confederate cavalry near Gettys- 
burg, June 26th, or one week before the real battle. The 
regiment under Colonel Jen- 
nings and Adjutant H. W. Mc- 
Knight (afterward President of 
the College) fell back to pro- 
tect Harrisburg. 

It may be of interest to also 
record at this place something- 
concerning General Herman 
Haupt, a distinguished former 
Professor of the College and at 
this time holding a most im- 
portant position in the Union 
Army. He was graduated 
from West Point Military 
Academy in 1835, a classmate 
of General Meade. He taught 
Civil Engineering and Archi- 
tecture at Pennsylvania Col- 
lege 1837 to 1830, and Mathe- 
matics 1845-1847, receiving A. 
M. from the Institution in 1839. 
He was a Trustee of the College from '59-'73-* 

At the time of the great battle he held the position 




General Herman Haupt 

When Professor of Mathematics, 1845-47. 



* He married the daughter of Rev. Benjamin Keller, then pastor of the 
local Lutheran Church, and, later, very successful as agent of College, Semi- 
nary and Publication Society. General Haupt, later, was Chief Engineer for 
the Hoosac Tunnel, the Pennsylvania and the Northern Pacific Railroad com- 
panies. He and his wife were ever staunch Lutherans, having founded a 
church in Washington in honor of her father. One son is the distinguished 
Engineer, Prof. Lewis M. Haupt, of the Isthmian Canal Commission ; another 
is a Lutheran pastor in St. Paul, Minn. 



of Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Trans 
portation of the ' United States Military Railroads. 
By most strenuous efforts he had restored Meade's 
railroad and telegraph connections with Washing- 
ton by the night of July 4th. He so reported to Gen- 
eral Meade on the morning of the 5th. Knowing him 
most familiarly, and knowing the surrounding country 
thoroughly both as a professional engineer and a long- 
time resident, he urged Meade, by all possible arguments, 
to hasten after the retreating army of Lee. But he could 
not persuade him to take prompt action. Discouraged 
by his refusal to move, General Haupt hurried, on a 
special engine, to Washington and on the morning of 
the 6th had personal interviews with General Halleck, 
the Secretary of War, and the President. These men 







Fac-SimieE of Signature of Brigadier-Generai, J. D. Imboden. 

Gen. Imboden and his command — an independent brigade of 2.000 cavalry — 
arrived too late on the 3rd of July to take part in the battle. Gen. L,ee, there- 
fore, put him in charge of the retreat of the wounded and the army supplies, 
saying, " It has been a sad, sad day to us. We must now return to Vir- 
ginia. Of this journey, perhaps the most tragic in American history, Gen. 
Imboden wrote : For many miles issued heart-rending wails of agony. Dur- 
ing this one night I realized more of the horrors of war than I had in all the 
two preceding years." Gen. Imboden was the son of Pennsylvania-German 
parents who had moved from near Lebanon, Pa., and located near Staunton, 
Va., before his birth. 

also urged Meade in repeated telegrams to try to inter- 
cept Lee's retreat before he reached the Potomac, forty- 
two miles away. But Meade refused to follow the sug- 
gestions, preferring to resign instead. The President 
was reconciled to the situation, saying, " Why condemn 
a man who has done so much because he did not do 
more? " Thus Lee was allowed to safely cross the river 
late on the 13th, ten days after the retreat began. Critics 
are divided as to the wisdom of Meade's policy, some 
maintaining that had General Haupt's plan been followed 
Lee's surrender north of the Potomac would have been 
inevitable, the war would have been shortened a year and 
a half, with its accompanying saving of 147,000 men in the 

8 



Army of the Potomac alone, besides many millions of 
money.* 

Both College and Seminary Trustees took this action 
August ii, 1863: "Resolved, that we have heard with 
proud satisfaction of the heroic conduct of those students 
who have rushed so promptly to the defense of their 
country . during the late rebel invasion and that their 
course is hereby heartily approved." 

The church constituencies of our institutions at Gettys- 
burg are particularly the states of Pennsylvania and 
Maryland. In the battle the former had eighty-four or- 
ganizations engaged, with 6,300 men lost (more than one- 
fourth the total Union loss), and the latter had six organ- 
izations and 140 men lost. 

We close this account with the beautiful words of Prof. 
Michael Jacobs, of the college faculty, who published one 
of the very best descriptions of the battle in September, 
1863 : " We rejoice in beholding the dawn of the day 
when the whole country shall be united again, the old 
animosity forgotten, a true friendship restored, and peace 
and prosperity going hand in hand to bless and gladden 
the people. May those happy days soon come. Let us 
all, therefore, sincerely and fervently join in the prayer, 
' that the Union may exist unbroken forever.' " 



* The latest, fairest and most important book on the Civil War written by 
a Southerner, who was in the thickest of the fighting from Bull Run to Ap- 
pomatox, " Military Memoirs of a Confederate," (Scribner's, 1907) by General 
E. P. Alexander, censures Meade for delaying the pursuit of L,ee. But it gives 
him high praise in these words : " There was not, during the war, a finer ex- 
ample of efficient command than that displayed by Meade on this occasion " 
(the second day.) 



LINCOLN'S IMMORTAL ADDRESS. 



" Grim visag'd war had smoothed his wrinkled front." 

Just four and a half months after the great battle, 
November 19, 1863, the Soldiers' National Cemetery was 
consecrated with elaborate ceremonies. The Governor of 
Pennsylvania had taken the initiative in promptly secur- 
ing the necessary ground, adjoining the local cemetery 
south of Gettysburg, and here have been interred the 
bodies of 3,555 Union soldiers, the names of 979 of whom 
are unknown. 

Judge David Wills (class of '51), of Gettysburg, has 
been called the " father " of the " Soldiers' National Cem- 
etery." He had been appointed by Governor Curtin as 
his special agent to purchase a site and to arrange with 
the authorities of the seventeen other loyal states, which 
had soldiers in the battle, to participate in 
the plan. The site was purchased in Au- 
gust, being about seventeen acres in the 
centre of the Federal line of battle. The 
Commissioners met December 19th, 1863, 
elected Mr. Wills President, and the per- 
manent plan was agreed upon. The first 
cost, including monument, was $63,500. 
The cemetery was incorporated March 
25th, 1864. 

The date for the consecration of the 
cemetery, November 19th, 1863, was set 
in response to the suggestion of Hon. Ed- 
ward Everett, who had been invited by 
the Governors of the States concerned to 
be the orator of the occasion. 

In his letter of invitation to the Presi- 
dent Judge Wills had written : " It is 
the desire that after the oration, you as 
Chief Executive of the nation, formally set apart these 
grounds to their sacred use by a few appropriate re- 




PrEsident Lincoln 

As he appeared when speech 
was delivered. When the 
College was founded, 1832, 
Lincoln was an unknown 
Captain in the Black-Hawk 
war in Illinois. The first 
Union shot in the Battle of 
Gettysburg was fired by Ser- 
geant Jones, of the 8th Reg- 
iment of Lincoln's own 
State of Illinois, at the old 
Marsh Creek bridge on the 
Chambersburg pike. 



marks. It will be a source of great gratification to the 
many widows and orphans that have been made almost 
friendless by the great battle here, to have you here per- 
sonally ; and it will kindle anew in the breasts of the com- 
rades of these brave dead, who are now in the tented 
field or nobly meeting the foe in the front, a confidence 
that they who sleep in death on the battle-field are not 
forgotten by those highest in authority ; and they will feel 
that, should their fate be the same, their remains will not 
be uncared for. We hope you will be able to be present 
to perform this last solemn act to the soldier dead on this 
battle field." 

In a private note he wrote : " As the hotels in our 




The Wills House. 

Southeast Corner of Square and York Street. President Lincoln was the guest 
of Judge Wills from Nov. 18 to Nov. 19, 1863, occupying the second-story 
room just over the Judge's office, facing the Square. In this room (marked 
with an X in illustration) he put his historic speech into final form. From the 
entrance on York Street he addressed the citizens the evening of the 18th, 
and started for the Consecration services at the Cemetery at 10 A. M. on the 
19th. This photograph was taken soon after this, and shows Judge Wills 
standing on his porch. 

town will be crowded and in confusion, I write to invite 
you to stop with me. Governor Curtin and Hon. Ed- 
ward Everett will be my guests at that time and if you 
come you will please join them at my house." 



Thus the President became a guest in the home of 
Judge Wills and there perfected and completed his great 
address. He made a brief speech to the citizens from 
the front porch of Judge Wills' home the evening of the 
18th, followed by Secretary Seward and others. The 
morning of the 19th, at 10 o'clock, the President mounted 
his horse and the procession moved to the cemetery. 

The" consecration of this cemetery was the occasion of 
President Lincoln's imperishable speech. We take the 
text of it from the official report published by the State 
of Pennsylvania in 1865. It should be memorized by 
every American school boy. 

Lincoln's Gettysburg Speech. 

" Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought 
forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in Lib- 
erty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are 
created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, 
testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived 
and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a 
great battlefield of that war. We are met to dedicate a 
portion of it as the final resting-place of those who here 
gave their lives that that nation might live. It is alto- 
gether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

" But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot 
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave 
men, living and dead, who struggled here, have conse- 
crated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The 
world will little note nor long remember what we say 
here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for 
us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfin- 
ished work that they have thus far so nobly carried on. 
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to. the great task 
remaining before us — that from these honored dead we 
take increased devotion to the cause for which they here 
gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here 
highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain ; 
that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of free- 
dom, and that the government of the people, by the 
people, and for the people, shall not perish from the 
earth." 



This dedicatory address was followed by a dirge by the 
choir and then was offered the following:. 

Benediction by Rev. Dr. H. L. Baugher, Sr., President of 
Pennsylvania College. 

" O Thou King of kings and Lord of lords, God of the 
nations of the earth, who, by Thy kind providence, hast 
permitted us to engage in these solemn services, grant us 
Thy blessing. 

" Bless this consecrated ground, and these holy graves. 
Bless the President of these United States, and his Cabi- 
net. Bless the Governors and the Representatives of the 
States here assembled with all needed grace to conduct 
the affairs committed to their hands, to the glory of Thy 
name and the greatest good of the people. May this great 
nation be delivered from treason and rebellion at home, 
and from the power of enemies abroad. 

" And now may the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God our 
Heavenly Father, and the fellowship 
of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. 
Amen."' 

The impression made by the Presi- 
dent's address was very profound. 

Hon. Edward Everett, who had pre- 
ceded him with an elaborate and elo- 
quent oration, wrote Mr. Lincoln the 
next day : " Permit me also to ex- 
press my great admiration of the 
thoughts expressed by you, with such 
eloquent simplicity and appropriate- 
ness, at the consecration of the ceme- 
tery. I should be glad if I could flat- 
ter myself that I came as near to the 
central idea of the occasion in my two 
hours as you did in two minutes." 

The Commissioners from Boston in their report said: 
" Perhaps nothing in the whole proceedings made so deep 
an impression on the vast assemblage, or has conveyed 
to the country in so concise a form the lesson of the hour, 




Monument in National 
Cemetery 

Standing where Lincoln deliv- 
ered his address. The closing 
part of address is carved on 
face of monument. Corner-stone 
laid July 4, 1865, with oration 
by General Howard ; dedicated 
July 1, 1869, with prayer by 
Henry Ward Beecher; addresses 
by Gov. Morton and General 
Meade ; and ode by Bayard Tay- 
lor. The total outlay (from 
1863 to 1893) of the Battlefield 
Association was $106,575. Since 
1893 the Government has spent 
$848,922, and the 18 states $846,- 
675, in acquiring and marking 
the present Battlefield Park of 
1869 acres. Total outlay, $1,- 
804,172.00. 



as the remarks of. the President. Their simplicity and 
force make them worthy of a prominence among the ut- 
terances from high places." 

The Associated Press reports showed that five times 
the speech was interrupted by " applause " and that at 
the close there was " long continued applause." 

Harper's Weekly, of December 5, 1863, gives this dis- 
criminating account of the addresses : 

" The oration by Mr. Everett was smooth and cold. 
Delivered, doubtless, with his accustomed graces, it yet 
wanted one stirring thought, one vivid picture, one thrill- 
ing appeal. 

" The few words of the President were from the heart 
to the heart. They cannot be read, even, -without 
kindling emotion. It was as simple and felicitous and 
earnest a word as was ever spoken." 

Thus these contemporaries rightly estimated the sim- 
ple greatness of the utterance and well foretold that im- 
mortality which it has attained wherever English is 
known. " Emerson, Lowell and Victor Hugo unite in 
declaring it to be one of the three masterpieces of human 
speech in the history of the race." 

Before closing this section we will give an incident of 
much interest to Lutherans of the General Synod. 

At the meeting of the General Synod at Lancaster, Pa., 
May, 1862, Pastor H. Eggers, who at that time had 
charge of a German Mission in the city of Nashville, 
which was then occupied by the Confederates, made a 
stirring patriotic speech in the course of which he said 
that he was the only minister in the city of Nashville that 
dared pray for President Lincoln and the reason he dared 
do it was " that he prayed in German and the rebels 
couldn't understand German but the Lord could." At 
this meeting of the General Synod a series of patriotic 
resolutions were passed and a committee appointed to con- 
vey them to President Lincoln. Dr. A. Hiller, of Hart- 
wick Seminary, writing of this incident, says further : 
" It was my privilege to accompany that committee to 
the White House. We were ushered into the presence 
of the President by Secretary Seward, when Dr. L. Stern- 

14 



berg, father of the late Surgeon-General of the U. S. 
Army, George M. Sternberg, who was chairman of the 
committee, read the resolutions, concluding with " the 
assurance that our fervent prayers shall ascend to the 
God of Nations, that Divine guidance and support may 
be vouchsafed to him in the trying and responsible posi- 
tion to which a benignant Providence has called him." 
At the close he said to the President : * With your per- 
mission I will introduce to you the Rev. Dr. H. N. Pohl- 
man, of Albany, N. Y., who will make some additional 
remarks.' Among other things Dr. Pohlman said in sub- 
stance : ' The Lutherans represent the German element 
in this country and you know that the Germans saved 
Missouri to the Union.* At our recent meeting one of 
the German brethren from the city of Nashville in an 
earnest patriotic speech remarked that he was the only 
minister in that city that dared pray for the President 
and the reason he dared do it was because " he prayed in 
German and the rebels couldn't understand German but the 
Lord could." This evidently pleased Mr. Lincoln greatly 
and was treasured in his memory. Eighteen months af- 
terward, at the dedication of the National Cemetery at 
Gettysburg Dr. Pohlman and the President again met, 
and, as Governor Seymour of New York was about to 
introduce Dr. Pohlman to the President, Mr. Lincoln did 
not wait for an introduction, but at once recognized him, 
and coming forward, took him by the hand exclaiming, 
" the Lord understands German." I believe that I am 
the only survivor of that delegation that waited on Presi- 
dent Lincoln in the spring of 1862." 

* He might also have informed the President that it was the German and 
Lutheran votes in each of the five pivotal States of Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, 
Illinois and Ohio which had given him the majority of the electoral votes over 
Douglas two years belore. Without these he would not have had over 126 
votes', and would have been defeated. He might also have reminded him that 
in his Union armies there were (out of a German-born population of 1,118,402 
in i860) 187,858 German-born soldiers; almost as many as all the other foreign- 
born soldiers put together. Besides these were many thousands of German 
blood among the 2,018,299 native-born soldiers. While in the Confederate 
States only two and one-half per cent, of the 9,000,000 population were foreign- 
born, and only a small part of these were Germans. 



15 



OUR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 



" There's a divinity that shapes our ends, 
Rough-hew them as we will." 

The Providential beginnings of our institutions at Get- 
tysburg are very interesting. General Carl Schurz, in 
his recently published reminiscences states : " Neither 
General Meade nor General Lee desired or expected to 
fight a battle at Gettysburg. Both were drawn into it by 
the unexpected encounter of the Confederate general, 
Heth, and a Federal cavalry general on reconnaissance, 
both instructed not to bring on a general engagement, 
but rather cautioned against it." 

So, when the question of a theological seminary was 
first considered at the very first meeting of the General 
Synod in Hagerstown in 1820, the committee to which it 
was referred consisted of five pastors, all but one of 
whom lived east of the Susquehanna. Had action been 
taken at that time the location would, doubtless, have 
been nearer the centre of the Pennsylvania Synod, for it 
constituted more than one-half of the whole church and 
had been chiefly instrumental in establishing the General 
Synod, having eight of the fifteen delegates at this first 
meeting, October 22, 1820. 

At this time there were but 170 pastors, 850 congrega- 
tions and 35,000 members in the United States. But no 
action was taken then, or in 182 1 at Frederick, or in 1823 
at Frederick. In the meantime the Pennsylvania Synod 
withdrew from the General Synod and the West Penn- 
sylvania Synod (pastors west of the Susquehanna) was 
organized in 1825. 

Samuel S. Schmucker was ordained in 1821, but he, as 
student and licentiate, had attended the conventions of 
the General Synod in 1819, 1820 and 1821. In his own 
Synod, the Maryland and Virginia, he continued the agi- 
tation of the question of a theological seminary, in 1824 
preaching a sermon to the Synod, detailing the regula- 

16 



tions of a private theological school which he had opened 
(1821) at his home in New Market, Virginia, and recom- 
mending its enlargement into a general institution of the 
church. At a conference at Martinsburg, February 9th 
and 10th, 1825, at the home of Rev. C. P. Krauth, Revs. 
B. Kurtz, Hagerstown, Md., F. Ruthrauff, Williamsport, 
Md., and J. Winter, Jerardstown, Va„ also being present, 




Rev. Samuel Simon Schmucker, D. D. 

Leading Founder of Seminary and College. From a rare photograph taken in 
Philadelphia about i860. Dr. Schmucker was born at Hagerstown, Md., teb. 
28 I7QQ; moved to York, Pa., 1809, studying at the Academy until 1814; en- 
tered Freshman class at University of Pennsylvania in 1814, remaining two 
years; taught at York County Academy 1816-1817; studied Lutheran Theology 
under Dr. Helmuth in Philadelphia 1815-1816 and under Dr. Schmucker Sr., 
in York 1816-1817; attended Princeton Seminary 1818-1820; given A. B. by 
University of Pennsylvania in i8 I9 ; given D. D. by both Rutgers and Univer- 
sity of Pennsylvania in 1830; licensed to preach 1820; pastor at New Market, 
Va 1820-1825; began private theological instruction with one student 1821; 
ordained 1821; delegate to General Synod 1823; wrote Formula of Government 
1823; proposed Committee on Foreign Correspondence at General Synod 1823; 
prepared plan as chairman of committee for establishment of Theological bemi- 
nary 1825, and elected First Professor of Theology 1825 ; installed 1826; pre- 
pared its constitution 1826; issued Storr & Flatt's Biblical Theology (2 vol.) 
in 1826; instituted Classical Academy 1827; prepared General Synod Hymn 
Book 1828; organized Gettysburg Gymnasium 1829 ; secured charter for Penn- 
sylvania College, by personal appeal to Legislature 1832;. Trustee of College 
1832 to 1873; secured appropriation for College, $18,000, m 1834; visited Eu- 
rope in 1846 attending Evangelical Alliance ; effected transfer of Franklin 
Professorship from Lancaster 1851; aided m raising funds for Preparatory 
Building in 1869; resigned Professorship in Seminary 1864; Professor Emeritus 
until he died, July 26, 1873; buried in Gettysburg Cemetery. Dr Henry L. 
Jacobs, the Lutheran historian, truly says of him: "Never have highei execu- 
tive abilities been at the service of the Church.' 

to further consider the project, the first money, six or seven 
dollars, was contributed. At the meeting of the Synod at 
Hagerstown October 23, 1825, a committee consisting of 
Messrs. Schmucker, Krauth and B. Kurtz were appointed 
to draft a plan for the immediate establishment of a sem- 
inary. Their plan, drawn up by Dr. Schmucker, with 
some additional articles, also drawn up by him, was 

17 



adopted by the General Synod at Frederick, two weeks 
later, November 7, 1825. The resolution said : " In this 
Seminary shall be taught, in the German and English 
languages, the fundamental doctrines of the Sacred Scrip- 
tures, as contained in the Augsburg Confession." 

Thus he saw executed what he had fondly looked for- 
ward to for five years. For in a letter dated February 17, 
1820, just before leaving Princeton Seminary, he had 
written his father: "We (he and Rev. F. C. Schaeffer, 
a Lutheran pastor in New York City, whom he had 
just visited) promised each other, that in reliance on 
God, we would do everything possible to promote the 
following objects: In general to labor for the wel- 
fare of our church, that a rule may be established ac- 
cording to which every applicant must be examined in 
regard to his personal Christianity, that the Augsburg Con- 
fession should again be brought up out of the dust and every 
one must subscribe to the twenty-one articles, and declare 
before God, by his subscription, that it corresponds with 
the Bible, not quantum, but quia; and we promised to do 
every 'tiling possible to promote learning among us." Concern- 
ing his ambitions for his Church at this early time he later 
wrote: "When I left Princeton (1820) there were three 
pia desideria, which were very near to my heart, for the 
welfare of our church. A translation of some one eminent 
system of Lutheran Dogmatics, a Theological Seminary 
and a College for the Lutheran Church." He was only 21 
years old when he left the Seminary and, yet, within six 
years (1826) he had translated and published Storr and 
Flatt's Biblical Theology (8vo. 2 vols., Andover) ; had 
launched the Seminary and, six years later, he realized his 
third desire in securing a charter for Pennsylvania Col- 
lege ! Three remarkable achievements ! 

Agents for soliciting contributions were appointed in 
all parts of the church, from New York to Indiana, and 
from Pennsylvania to South Carolina. Rev. Benjamin 
Kurtz was at once appointed an agent to visit Europe 
and " solicit contributions of money and books for the 
benefit of the Seminary." 

The General Synod elected Rev. Samuel S. Schmucker 



as first professor. All future elections were to be by 
the Board of Directors, also elected by the General 
Synod at this session. The Board held its first meet- 
ing at Hagerstown, March 2, 1826, with nine members 
present. Thus The Theological Seminary of the Gen- 
eral Synod was finally launched, in 1826, after much ef- 
fort and struggle during the preceding six years. The 
Constitution was written by Dr. Schmucker, at the 
Board's request. 

The object of Seminary is thus stated in Article I : 
" To provide our churches with pastors who sincerely 
believe and cordially approve of the doctrines of the Holy 
Scriptures, as they are fundamentally taught in the Augs- 
burg Confession." 

Next came the matter of permanent location which 
was at once considered by the Board. Dr. Morris, 
in his valuable historical 
sketch, written for the Fiftieth 
Anniversary in 1876, tells us 
how this was determined. 
Hagerstown offered $6,635 ^ n 
money ; Carlisle offered $5,000 
in money and a lot of ground ; 
Gettysburg offered $7,000 in 
money and the use of the Acad- 
emy building until suitable edi- 
fices could be erected for the 
seminary. After a long debate 
Gettysburg, upon the second 
ballot, was the place selected, 
the final decision being unani- 
mous. Gettysburg was then a 
town of about 1,500 inhabi- 
tants. The Seminary was 
chartered in 1827. Rev. Kurtz 
returned from his tour of 
Europe in 1827 having se- 
cured almost $10,000 and 5,000 books for the library. 
At this time the seminary had the largest theological 
library in this country, the supply from friends in Ger- 




The Cradle of Higher Education 

In the Lutheran Church in America. 

Built at Southeast Corner Washing-ton and 
High Streets, in 1810, by means of an ap- 
propriation of $2,000 from the Legislature, 
as the Adams County Academy; used as 
the Theological Seminary of the General 
Synod from 1 826-1 832 ; used also as Clas- 
sical School, " conducive to the welfare of 
the Seminary" 1827-1829; bought by As- 
sociation of twenty-two Lutheran clergy- 
men in 1829 for a " Classical and Scientific 
Department in subservience to the objects 
of the Theological Seminary " for $1,100 
C$50 per share), and conducted as The 
Gettysburg Gymnasium 1829-1832; home 
of Pennsylvana College, 1832-1837; and 
Preparatory Department to 1838, and sold 
in 1844. 



19 



many continuing for several years after Mr. Kurtz's re- 
turn.* 

Fourteen young men were enrolled the first year, 
1826-27. 

At the meeting of the Board May, 1827, it was sug- 
gested that a " well conducted Classical School would 
not only promote the cause of education in Gettysburg, 
but also be conducive to the welfare of the Seminary." 
The Board therefore " resolved that the then directors as- 
sociate themselves together for the purpose of establish- 
ing a Classical School, and that their successors in the 
Board be their successors in the management of the 
School." David Jacobs, A. M., a student of the Seminary, 
was appointed teacher. Thus we see that in the very 
year the Seminary was chartered, 1827, its Board began 
this Classical School (with two students) in the same 
building, conducted by one of its students ; a most inti- 
mate relationship. 

In 1829 the property of the Academy was purchased by 
a stock company (" in subservience to the objects of the 
Theological Seminary ") of twenty-two poor Lutheran 
clergymen for $1,100, each taking a share at $50.** The 
Classical School was now made the Gettysburg Gymna- 



* In 1827 both the Seminary Board and the General Synod passed resolu- 
tions of great gratitude. As late as May, 1829, Dr. Kurtz writes: "Nearly 
every arrival from Amsterdam, Bremen, and Hamburg, at the port of Balti- 
more, affords us most joyful proof of the continuance of their liberality." Con- 
siderable money was raised by the sale of fancy-work made and sent by Luth- 
eran ladies in Germany. In this country ladies' societies did the same. In 
order to further strengthen this close connection between the church in the 
Fatherland and the young American Seminary it was the desire of many, at 
this time, to elect as a second Professor a distinguished scholar from Germany. 
But opposition arising to this suggestion, the Board elected as the second Pro- 
fessor (1830) Rev. Dr. E. L. Hazelius, a most learned American German, then 
Principal of Hartwick Seminary in New York State. He became Professor of 
the German Language and of Oriental Literature and also taught in the Gym- 
nasium and College. 

**The names and residences of these original share-holders are given so as 
to show the widespread interest in the founding of an American Lutheran Col- 
lege. Fifteen were from Pennsylvania, four from Maryland and three from 
Virginia: S. S. Schmucker, Gettysburg, Pa.; John Herbst, Jr., Gettysburg, 
Pa. ; H. G. Steelier, Martinsburg, York county, Pa. ; J. G. Schmucker, York, 
Pa. ; C. F. Heyer, Carlisle, Pa. ; Jno. Ruthrauff, Greencastle, Pa. ; Jacob Crig- 
ler, Berlin, Somerset county, Pa. ; Eman. Keller, Mechanicsburg, Pa. ; Jacob 
Martin, Williamsburg, Huntingdon county, Pa. ; J. W. Heim, Landisburg, Mif- 
flin county, Pa. ; Benj. Kurtz, Hagerstown, Md. ; D. F. Schaeffer, Frederick, 
Md. ; Jno. G. Morris, Baltimore, Md. ; Abr. Reck, Middletown, Md. ; Fred'k 
Schaeffer, D. D., Philadelphia, Pa. ; Mich. Meyerhoeffer, Harrisonburg, Va. ; 
Jacob Medtart, Martinsburg, Va. ; Lew. Eichelberger, Winchester, Va. ; C. 
Phil. Krauth, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Daniel Gottwald, Petersburg, Adams county, 
Pa. ; W. G. Ernst, Lebanon, Pa. ; C. F. Schaeffer, Carlisle, Pa. 



sium and a Scientific Department added, under the care of 
Mr. Michael Jacobs. In 1832 the new seminary building 
was occupied on Seminary Ridge. The site was selected 
by three non-resident Directors ; Major Fred'k Sharretts 
of Carlisle, Geo. Hager of Hagerstown and Chas. A. Bar- 
nitz, Esq., of York. The "Gymnasium" was chartered as 
Pennsylvania College and was formally opened as such 
July 4, 1832. 




Seminary Building in 1834. 

Photo-engraving from wood-cut. This is the very earliest picture of the Semi- 
nary. The Seminary building was finished in 1832 and Professor Schmucker s 
house in 1833. The building was designed by Architect Pierce, of Chambers- 
burg; the original contract price being $7,750. with additional sums for numer- 
ous alterations. The corner-stone was laid May 26, 1831, with hymns, prayers 
and addresses in both German and English. In 1832 a bell was given for the 
cupola by the church in York. In i860 the fourth story was finished. In 1893 
all was thoroughly remodeled and modernized and the second building erected. 

Dr. Schmucker has left us an interesting record of his 
efforts to secure this charter. He " spent several weeks, 
on his own expense, in bringing the merits of the case be- 
fore the individual members of the Legislature. By the 
aid of Gov. Wolfe,* the distinguished friend of popular 
education, he also obtained permission of the House 
to address them in the Representative Hall, on the 
claims of the Germans in Pennsylvania to legislative 
sanction in the establishment of a college for the edu- 
cation of their Anglicized descendants. The earlier his- 

* A Pennsylvania-German Lutheran. 

21 




tory of the Germanic nations in Europe was briefly 
sketched, and the patriotism, the integrity and industry of 
the Germans in our own State was presented in detail. 
The Hall was crowded by the members of the Legislature, 
the Governor, and the heads of Departments, as well as 
others of the most intelligent citizens of Harrisburg." He 
also had petitions circulated by Lutheran pastors and 
other friends in about thirty counties and forwarded to 
members of the Legislature. He adds : " Accordingly a 
charter was obtained April, 1832." 

The work of the College was transferred to its new 
building on the campus in 1837 and the Preparatory De- 



&-^£*. c^4_jfc 



<-<? 



Fac-simile of signature of Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, the " Great 
Commoner." 

Having graduated from Dartmouth in 1815, he was a young lawyer resident in 
Gettysburg when Pennsylvania College was organized. Entering the legisla- 
ture in 1833 he heartily and ably aided Dr. Schmucker in 1834 in securing 
$18,000 from the State; the College to secure the same amount from other 
sources wthin the year. In 1835 he saved from repeal the " Free School Sys- 
tem " of the State by his eloquent efforts. Beginning in 1835 the College re- 
ceived $1,000 annually from the State for seven years. Mr. Stevens left the 
Legislature in 1841 and removed to Lancaster in 1842. From 1848 to 1868 he 
was a most distinguished Congressman. He was an active Trustee of Pennsyl- 
vania College from 1834 until his death in 1868; leaving it $1,000 in his will. 
In 1839 he moved to commence a Law Department and a Professor was 
elected, but the department never materialized. The Preparatory Building, 
erected in 1868 at a cost of $20,000, was named " Stevens Hall " in his honor. 
Dr. Schmucker testifies that in 1834 " our cause was most ably advocated by 
our Representative, Thaddeus Stevens, Esq., the distinguished champion of the 
free public school system of Pennsylvania, and of education in every form." 

partment a year later. The old Academy building which 
had been the cradle of the Seminary from 1826 to 1832, of 
the Classical School from 1827 to 1829, of the Gymna- 
sium from 1829 to 1832, and of the College from 1832 to 
1837, and of the Preparatory Department to 1838, was sold 
in 1844. It should certainly be preserved as an educational 
shrine for American Lutherans, for from it have gone forth 
more far-reaching influences for higher education in the 
Lutheran church in this country than from any other 
structure in our land. 



Dr. S. S. Schmucker was inaugurated as first Professor 
of the Seminary in the German St. James' Lutheran 
Church, Rev. John Herbst, Jr., pastor, at Gettysburg, Sep- 
tember 5, 1826. The charge was delivered by Rev. 
David F. Schaeffer, of Frederick, Md., Secretary of the 
General Synod. Among other things he said to the 
young Professor : " The fathers of our church in the 
United States, 'tis well known to you, were prepared 
for the sacred ministry in the . Seminary at Halle, and 
by their classical knowledge, great erudition and fer- 
vent piety, became, under God, instrumental in the 
conversion of hundreds, who, but for the sons of Halle, 
would, very probably, have entered the eternal world 
without ever having seen the sun of righteousness. The 
erudition, unfeigned piety, pastoral prudence and system- 
atic knowledge of the duties incumbent upon the ambas- 
sadors of Jesus, which our fathers desired from the Lord, 
through a Theological Seminary, enabled them to discrim- 
inate, when to feed with milk and when to nourish with 
strong meat. They at once commanded the respect of all, 
and both English and German emigrants, in Pennsylvania 
and Maryland especially, were brought to the feet of the 
crucified Saviour." He particularly emphasized the obli- 
gations of a Theological Professor in a Lutheran seminary 
in these words : " As the Lord has signally favored our 
beloved Church — as her tenets are Biblical, and her veri- 
est enemies cannot point out an important error in her 
Articles of Faith, no more than could the enemies of the 
truth at the Diet at Worms prove the books of the im- 
mortal Reformer erroneous ; therefore the Church which 
entrusts you with the preparation and formation of her 
pastors, demands of you (and in her behalf I solemnly 
charge you) to establish all students confided to your care 
in that faith which distinguishes our church from others. 
If any should object to such faith, or any part of it, or re- 
fuse to be convinced of the excellence of our discipline, 
they have their choice to unite with such of our Christian 
brethren whose particular views in matters of faith and 
discipline may suit them better. I hold it, however, as 
indispensable for the peace and welfare of a church, that 

23 




unity of sentiment should prevail upon all important mat- 
ters of faith and discipline, among its pastors. Hence I 
charge you to exert yourself in convincing our students 
that the Augsburg Confession is a safe directory to deter- 
mine upon matters of faith, declared upon the Lamb's 
book. To a difference of opinion upon subjects of minor 
importance, by which different denominations of Chris- 
tians have been brought into exist- 
ence, we have no objection, pro- 
vided the spirit of Christ prevails. 
The visible Church is rather beauti- 
fied by such difference, as is a gar- 
den of flowers of variegated colors. 
But the different genera and species 
should be preserved, according to 
their peculiar nature." The Profes- 
sor then took the oath of office, he 
himself having written it. Practi- 
cally the same form is still used in 
this and all of the Seminaries of the 
General Synod. We give most of it : 
" I do ex ammo believe the Scrip- 
tures of the Old and New Testa- 
ments to be the inspired word of 
God and the only perfect rule of 
faith and practice. I believe the 
Augsburg Confession and the Cate- 
chisms of Luther to be a summary 
and just exhibition of the fundamen- 
tal doctrines of the Word of God. 
And I do solemnly promise not to 
teach anything, either directly or by 
insinuation, which shall appear to 
me to contradict, or to be inconsistent with, the doc- 
trines or principles avowed in this declaration. On the 
contrary I promise by the aid of God to vindicate and in- 
culcate these doctrines and principles while I remain 
Professor in this Seminary." 

In closing his inaugural address Prof. Schmucker ex- 
pressed these sentiments : " It is our hope and prayer that 



St. James' Lutheran Church. 

In this church Rev. Samuel Simon 
Schmucker was inaugurated as first 
Professor in the first official Theo- 
logical Seminary in the Lutheran 
Church in America Sept. 5, 1826. 
Here, also, was inaugurated Rev. 
Charles Philip Krauth as the first 
President of the first Lutheran Col- 
lege in America, October, 1834. 
The pastor at this period was Rev. 
John Herbst, Jr. He was one of 
the organizers of West Pennsyl- 
vania Synod, 1825 ; a first Director 
and Secretary of the Seminary 
Board (1826); a first subscriber 
($100.00) to Seminary Endowment 
(1826); a first Solicitor (with 
Revs. Keller and Ruthrauff) for 
Seminary (1826) ; appointed to or- 
ganize (with Prof. Schmucker) the 
Classical School (1827); agent for 
the first General Synod Hymn 
Book (1828); and a first Patron of 
the Gymnasum (1829), and of the 
College (1832). 

This church was also used as a 
hospital for the wounded of both 
armies during and after the battle. 



24 



God will raise up in our institution a multitude of able and 
faithful laborer's for his vineyard, who shall preach with 
fidelity the grand doctrines of the mother church of the 
Reformation, who can instruct our congregations in the 
several languages spoken by them in this country. Here 
we hope to see instructed perhaps a Paul and Barnabas to 
publish to the heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ, 
and many a James and Cephas and John to feed the flocks 
at home ; men who carry their zeal for the cause of the Re- 
deemer to the highest and holiest ardor of devotion, who 
regard no service too difficult, no obstacles insuperable, 




Pennsylvania College in 1837. 

Photo-engraving from wood-cut. This is the very oldest picture of the College. 
In 1835 a site of eight acres was purchased of Hon. Thaddeus Stevens at $88 
per acre. Here was built 1836-1837 the first building for a Lutheran College 
in America. The building was designed by Architect Trautwein, of Philadel- 
phia, after the Doric style of architecture. It was originally 150 feet long, 
built of brick, the price being $18,000, and the builder, Henry Winemiller, of 
Chambersburg. The east wing was left unfinished until 1838, when it was oc- 
cupied by the Preparatory Department. The campus was graded and planted 
with trees in 1839. This building was enlarged and modernized in 1890 and is 
now used exclusively for a dormitory. 

no sacrifice too great! To God, therefore, and to the 
guidance of his gracious Spirit, be our infant school of the 
Prophets ever dedicated ! Together with its directors, its 
teachers, its pupils ; that it may prove a lasting blessing to 
the church, and that thousands may hereafter rise up and 
call its founders and benefactors blessed !" 

Dr. Chas. Philip Krauth was inaugurated first president 
of Pennsylvania College, in the same church in October, 

25 



1834- On this occasion he paid this tribute to his con- 
stituency : " We may rejoice that the prospect is becom- 
ing more and more bright to found in this borough liter- 
ary institutions designed to invite a large and respectable 
portion of the population of our Commonwealth, the Ger- 
mans, to emulate the literary spirit of their Fatherland, 
and to submit the minds of their sons to that training 1 



Uliii ^pninmimiumi 






»v 



GETTYSBXJRG, PA., 
atflfdncsdaij, September 17th, 1834. 



Hfox of €itxmh. 



P R A Y E K— by Pmitaii Kmwi Fli 

lath s„h,i„i,„,,^- Wm. H. Smitu, Georgetown, D C. 
Greek Txtngwm ami Lilieratmv—J. li. Bice*, Jerk. Pi 



The X/nrli fifth- A.j, _E. Kbluik, MWdleto^n, Md. 
Fleaivcret of Science— TasOHnLOS Stosk. 8«Hrtniry, .V. C 



/7w,'< ,',,.,., WHiaigt-M, Ci. Dale, Unouter, I'o. 
VALEDICTORY— -1>. G. Biftsm, Vork. 1'a. 



Conferring of gep/res ;nui B;irc;ii;uirc;ifr Address. 



Fac-simile of Programme of First Lutheran College; Commence- 
ment in America, Sept. 17, 1834. 

Messrs. Keller, Stork and Dale were Juniors at this time. 

which has never been lost upon German intellect, but 
has produced a galaxy of learned men in every depart- 
ment of literature, who may be regarded as the admira- 
tion of the world." 

Since the completion of Christ Lutheran Church in 



26 



1836 the faculties and students have attended this church. 
It is not the purpose of this writing to give a detailed 
history of these institutions. Although it can here be 
stated that the Theological Seminary has trained over 
1,100 ministers for the American Lutheran Church and 
now has a magnificent plant and endowment worth more 
than $400,000. The College now has over 1,200 alumni 
and property and endowment worth nearly $600,000. It 
has furnished Presidents and Professors for all of the 
other educational institutions of the General Synod ; each 
of these schools, in turn, carrying on the same beneficent 
work for church and nation in its particular " sphere of 
influence." 

A Three-fold Lesson. 

Both from the Battle of Gettysburg and from our 
Church's Educational efforts there we may deduce three 
timely lessons. 

First: Both represent the heroic sacrifices of the fath- 
ers of both nation and Church in our behalf. 

" Four score and seven years (1776- 1863) ago our fath- 
ers brought forth on this continent a new nation." 

So, we Lutherans of the General Synod may say " Four 
score and seven years ago (1820-1907) our fathers 
brought forth on this continent a new ecclesiastical na- 
tion " in the founding of the General Synod, the first gen- 
eral body of Lutherans organized in America. The 
names of these fifteen pioneers and organizers should be 
cherished as highly as those of the Signers of the Declar- 
ation of Independence. They were : — Revs. George 
Lochman, D. D., F. W. Geisenhainer, D. D., Christian 
nndress, D. D., J. G. Schmucker, D. D., H. A. Muhlen- 
berg/ D. D., and Messrs. Christian Kunkel, William 
Hensel and Peter Strickler, from the Synod of Pennsyl- 
vania; Revs. F. P. Mayer, D. D., and F. C. Schaeffer, 
D. D., from the Synod of New York; Revs. G. Shober 
and P. Schmucker from the Synod of North Carolina, and 
Revs. J. D. Kurtz, D. D., D. F. Schaeffer, D. D., and Mr. 
George Shryock of the Synod of Maryland and Virginia. 
From this humble beginning, effected through great sac- 

27 




rifices and hardships, developed all of the large present 
Educational, Missionary, Benevolent and Publishing in- 
terests of the General Synod of our day. 

The Educational beginnings at Gettysburg particularly 
involved heroic sacrifices on the part of their promoters. 
Dr. Schmucker began his work at a salary of $500 per 
year, and for ten years gave $100 per year for helping 
needy students for the ministry. The twenty-two poor 
Lutheran clergymen who, in 1829, purchased the Acad- 
emy building for $1,100 for the use of the Gymnasium, 
College and Seminary, probably each represented more 
personal financial sacrifice than 
the modern multi-millionaire in 
founding an University. 

The Church in Germany, in 
sending the earlier leaders from 
Halle, and, later, in sending their 
thousands of dollars and of books 
for the young Seminary is an 
abiding inspiration to the Luth- 
eran Church in America to altru- 
istic Missionary and Educational 
enterprises. 

Many of the loyal Professors, 
like Prof. Stoever, have refused 
far more lucrative positions else- 
where and have given their lives 
to our schools. 
Gettysburg, therefore, spells sacrifices by the fathers for 
us! 

Second: Both the Battle and our Schools at Gettysburg 
represent a turning point in history. 

" The world can never forget what they did here . . . 
the cause for which they here gave the last full measure of 
devotion." 

Our illustration of the " High-water Mark Monument " 
strikingly reminds us that here was definitely settled the 
principle of Secession ; that this ominous wave now re- 
ceded, to be forever swallowed up, at Appomatox, in the 
indivisible Union of our Republic. 



Equestrian Statue of Gen- 
eral Meade. 

The State of Pennsylvania erected 
equestrian statues to Generals Meade, 
Hancock and Reynolds, at a cost of 
$100,000, in honor of her three most 
distinguished sons in this the only bat- 
tle of the war on her free soil. As yet 
the Lutheran Church has erected no 
special monument to her distinguished 
son who was " father " to her institu- 
tions at Gettysburg. But, looking at 
these schools, we may say: " Si quaeris 
monumentum, circumspice." 



28 




This sacred field may also have marked a spiritual turn- 
ing-point in the eternal career of the great-hearted Lin- 
coln. For an incident is given by Professor M. L. 
Stoever, Professor of Latin and History in Pennsylvania 
College at the time, in the Evangelical Review for July, 
1865, which would indicate this. Writing an eloquent 
tribute to the memory of the 
recently martyred President, 
he states : ' 'To a friend who 
asked him on a certain occa- 
sion if he (Lincoln) loved 
the Saviour, his reply was : 
' When I was first inaugu- 
rated I did not love Him ; 
but when I stood on the battle- 
field of Gettysburg and looked 
upon the graves of our dead 
heroes, who had fallen in de- 
fence of their country, I gave 
my heart to Christ and I can 
now say that I do love my 
Saviour.' " 

In the same way our Insti- 
tutions at Gettysburg have 
had a critical influence in the 

life and development of both the Church as a whole and 
of the hundreds of young lives which they have touched. 

" Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." 

From the standpoint of the American Lutheran Church 
in general and the General Synod in particular the found- 
ing of our educational institutions at Gettysburg was the 
" High-water Mark " for a long period marked by scat- 
tered forces, unorganized resources, fewness of leaders, 
lay ignorance and denominational inertia. But since 
then there has been a steady and rapid recession of these 
various waves of hindrance and an ever increasing 
growth in lay intelligence and liberality, organized and 
centralized methods of local and general Church work, 
gains in the numbers and competency of the clergy and 



High-Water Mark. 

" It was here that one of the most gallant 
charges recorded in history terminated; here 
that the tide of success of the Confederacy 
turned. From this spot the defeated troops 
fell back and never again made a successful 
stand. This was indeed the High-Water Mark 
of the Rebellion." Toward this copse of trees 
Pickett was directed to move in making his 
memorable charge. These scrub-oak trees 
have not grown more than a few feet since 
1863 ; hence appear just about as they did in 
the battle. 



29 



a growing tendency toward a loyal and triumphant de- 
nominational career in this glorious Republic. 

Without needing to cite the many hundreds of living 
ex-students of these Institutions, we would simply sug- 
gest, in estimating this influence in the past, that we 
could not write the history of our Church in this country 
without recording the services of at least the following of 
the ex-students no longer living: 

Rosenmiller, Ritz and Sill, incorporators of Wittenberg 
College in 1845, an d Keller and Sprecher, its earliest 
Presidents, besides many other Professors there ; the Bit- 
ties, Wells, Davis and Dosh at Roanoke, besides Story, 
Brown, Smelzer, Holland, Bikle and other Southern 
leaders ; Ziegler and Born at Selinsgrove ; in Illinois and 
the West, such leaders as Reck, Springer, Harkey, Rey- 
nolds, Tressler, Kuhl, Weiser and Kuhns ; in the General 
Council such indispensable workers as were Schaeffer 
(C. W.), Krauth, Bassler, Passavant, Sadtler, Muhlen- 
berg, Seip, Schmucker (B. M.), Schmauk Sr., Schantz, 
Richards and Seiss; besides such General Synod leaders 
and organizers as Morris, Oswald, Baum, Conrad, Wede- 
kind, Goettman and Barnitz ; Bishop Payne among the 
colored people, Ex-Moderator Wm. M. Paxton among the 
Presbyterians, and hundreds of other Churchmen in 
America, and in India, Gunn, Unangst and Rowe. Esti- 
mate, if you can, the influence for lasting good of each of 
these ; add to this the growing influence for good of the 
various institutions which they, in turn, founded ; and 
then multiply it all several-fold for the share of those still 
living and a partial conception of the undying results of 
our Church's work at Gettysburg can be gained. The 
founding of those schools was certainly a turning-point in 
ecclesiastical and individual history! 

Third: Both the Battle and the Christian School repre- 
sent the only solution of a successful national life. 

Lincoln put it thus : " That the government of the 
people, by the people and for the people shall not perish 
from the earth." The Battle undoubtedly gave the 
United Republic a new lease of life. But at every past 
and future stage of its life Democracy must depend for its 

30 



success and perpetuity upon the ideals inculcated i.i 

Christian Schools. 

Lincoln expressed this most truly in an address in 

Illinois, nearly thirty years earlier, when he said : 

" Let reverence for the laws be taught in schools, in seminaries 
and in colleges ; let it he written in primers, spelling books and alma- 
nacs ; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative 
halls and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become 
the political religion of the nation ; and let the old and the young, the 
rich and the poor, the grave and the gay of all sexes and tongues 
and colors and conditions sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars." 

Thoughtful Americans realize that this is the burning 
issue in our Republic's life at this time. The great in- 
crease of irreligion, crime, lawlessness, injustice and ex- 
travagance has attracted the attention of our national 
leaders with new force. 

The recent meeting of the National Educational Associa- 
tion, at Los Angeles, Cal., passed this startling resolution : 

" The National Educational Association wishes to record its ap- 
proval of the increasing appreciation among educators of the fact 
that the building of character is the real aim of schools, and the ulti- 
mate reason of the expenditure of millions for their maintenance. 
There are in the minds of the children and youth of to-day a tendency 
toward a disregard for constituted authority, a lack of respect for 
age and superior wisdom, a weak appreciation of the demands of 
duty, a disposition to follow pleasure and interest rather than obliga- 
tion and order. This condition demands the earnest thought and 
action of our leaders of opinion and places important obligations 
upon school authorities." 

In the past few years such great organizations as the 
Religious Education Association and the Inter-Church 
Federation have come into existence largely to meet this 
present American crisis. The Church must Christianise 
the education of the nation as well as educate the Christianity 
of the nation. 

In this the Lutheran Church — the General Synod — 
must do her full share or be untrue to her worthy heri- 
tage.; her national obligation and her Divine Commission 
to " Go, Teach." 

The Board of Education is now aiding six such Luth- 
eran Colleges and Academies, scattered in New York, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Kansas. As good 
Americans ; as good Lutherans ; as good Christians ; for 
us this is a fundamental work. Strong Schools make a 
strong Church , and a strong Church makes a strong Nation! 

31 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 312 203 7 



Our Five 

Other 

American 

Lutheran 

Schools 




Aided hy 

Board of 

Education 

of 

General 

Synod. 



Recitation Building 

WITTENBERG COLLEGE 

Springfield, O. Founded 1845 




Dormitory and Recitation Hall 
HARTWICK SEMINARY 

Hartwick Seminary, N. Y. 
Founded 1797 



Seibert Hall 

SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY 

Selinsgrove, Pa. 

Founded 1858 





Recitation Building 

CARTHAGE COLLEGE 

Carthage, III. Founded 1870 



Dormitory and Recitation Hall 

MIDLAND COLLEGE 

Atchison, Kan. Founded 1887 



